Online poker room and casino PKR has abruptly closed its doors, citing “recent financial difficulties.”
The company is “in the process of taking professional advice,” a statement on the website reads. The status of the player deposits is unknown.
The first sign of difficulty emerged earlier this week when the site went offline. Network operator MPN emailed the press early on Friday stating that it had suspended PKR’s service at the request of the company.
This was followed up hours later with a statement posted on the PKR website, and sent by MPN via email, regarding the company’s financial trouble.
PKR is a long-standing online gaming operator based in the UK that for many years maintained its own independent online poker room using unique “3D” software built in-house.
Almost exactly one year ago, the site migrated onto MPN’s network. While it maintained its familiar look and feel, it shared the players with MPN’s much larger player pool. It resulted in a noticeable bump to MPN traffic. Last August, the operator celebrated its ten year anniversary.
While never competing in the big leagues, PKR had managed to carve out its own niche in the online poker industry, built up a loyal following and gew a sizeable community on its own PKR forums. It, along with the rest of the website, is currently offline.
PKR operates internationally under a license issued in Alderney. The AGCC, Alderney’s gaming regulator, is arguably most famous for licensing Full Tilt Poker when the site shut down following the events of Black Friday without having any customer funds on deposit. The AGCC said at the time it was “fundamentally misled” by the operator.
A review into the AGCC’s conduct concluded the the regulation “worked as it should.” However, later the regulator made a u-turn and changed its regulatory policy to require all licensees to ring-fence player funds.
PKR also holds a gaming license in the UK and Denmark. The UK also requires funds to be held in segregated accounts, but the stipulation does not protect customer deposits in the event of insolvency.
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